My prediction: you'll think it was fine and never have a reason to go back. How'd I do?

This is your answer. My wife and I were in the same boat and ordered off the "Menu A" "Menu B" section and asked for different things. We got to taste a ton of stuff with fewer courses. It was delightful.

I can't speak to the whiskey part, but the rest is simply not true. Differences in price are less about the quality of the beef, and more about the quality of the preparation. And, for the record, well-done does not mean cook the hell out of it. If that has been your experience, then I am sorry to hear that. Even if cooking to well-done compresses beef quality more than cooking to medium-rare (which I don't agree with), better beef is still better beef, and worth the price differential.

For me, a well-done piece of beef tastes better than lower temp versions, and has significantly better mouth feel. I am willing to pay a premium for someone who can cook a well -done steak properly. I will admit, that it can be hard to find someone like that, at least in part because of the bias in favour of lower temperature cooking, which I understand. I know I am in the minority here.

Actually I prefer medium-well, so I think that e_holle's comments are quite useful.

Hit Portofino at the Mirage - I suppose it's as fine dining as Italian can be, if that makes sense.

On the whole a good experience. My wife had their version of Chicken Parmesan, and I had the Branzino - came in a light caper sauce, with mushrooms, grilled asparagus and potato leek gratin. Fish was very good, and the side dishes much better than I expected, especially the asparagus, which I'm not usually a big fan of. Decent wine and beer list. Service attentive but not intrusive.

Dunno if I'd make a special trip there, but if you're at the Mirage, it's worth a visit.

MM MD

Nail on the head.

Hard to take a restaurant serious that claims to serve authentic Italian cuisine and then puts chicken parm on the menu.

Nah, they called it something else. But it was pretty damn similar, AFAIK.

MM MD

I guess the word authentic implies regional Italian cooking. I think the problem is that so many places bastardize, take short cuts, overcharge, etc for Italian American cuisine that a lot of people don't appreciate it. I still think that really well done Italian American cuisine is some of the most satisfying food I can eat. Allegro is a decent example of this in Vegas, Sinatra at least used to be, and even that cannot really hold a candle to some of the great places on the east coast. I think Portofino is definitely above average Italian American food, even if it comes with strip pricing and a little lack of creativity.

I was in Vegas for WSOP and forgot to post.
I had bouchon for breakfast 4 times as it was so nice.

Totally agreed. I didn't want to hate on Italian American food, just on the fact that a restaurant with that price point should avertize it that way instead of claiming something was authentic Italian cuisine.

I remember going to lunch at Milo's with a friend right after Cosmopolitan had opened. He liked the food but was surprised that it was a total different kind of Greek food that he was used to. He didn't even know that traditional Mediterranean cuisine was mainly based on fresh seafood and vegetables, prepared with olive oil, herbs and not too much else. It's probably the same thing with Italian food, lots of people in the US would be disappointed if they couldn't find entrees with tomato sauce on the menu.

Bardot Brasserie in Aria is awesome for breakfast. And their steak tartare happy hour app is awesome as well.

Totally agree, and coming from someone that lived in Greece for 6 months, Milos beats 90% of the restaurants I went to in that time, maybe more.

Interesting to hear feedback on our appreciation of Craftsteak. As I was reading, I kept thinking about our (two) experiences there and why we liked them that much. Upon reflection, it wasn't that the food wasn't very good (it was), but on both trips we made a personal connection with the staff that took the experiences from good to great. So there's a bias there for service.

That's what makes discussions like this valuable. Multiple points of reference from different viewpoints.For example, I'm looking forward to trying Stripsteak in the future because of this thread. Normally we wouldn't even really consider it because MB isn't really on our radar.

Craftsteak is on my list of two places I won't go to again in Vegas. Holsteins might even be more overrated than CS.

Man I went to Holsteins a few weeks after it opened and I thought it was really perfect for Vegas, and it definitely hit the trifecta for me of a really good burger, decent fries, and great milkshake. Then I took friends three other times and good lord was it disappointing. I'm not sure what happened, but the quality and service took a nosedive. Feels like these overpriced burger places really go through phases, they open and try to do a great job. Then they start seeing the massive bottom line and just try to steamroll people through the place. I remember a number of years ago I really loved BLT burger when it was in the Mirage, was solid for the first year or so and then same thing, quality really became poor.

This could not be more true. It was a bit of a revelation for me to eat Italian food in Italy. Everything olive oil and a ton of seafood. In all honesty it was quite lovely, and something I would not have expected. I'm not saying I won't house a few meatballs at Macaroni Grill still from time to time but it definitely was an eye-opening experience.

For me eating all over Italy, the amazing thing was how they could make so many different pastas that all seemed quite "light". I'm still a huge fan of great red sauce and pasta, but the food in Italy all seemed lightly sauced and super easy to eat any time of the day.

I disagree. A prime / aged/ well-marbled steak e.g ribeye, will stand up to the temperatures of being well-done better than a young choice ribeye. That latter starting tough and getting tougher when cooked to 'well done' temperatures. I dont advocaye well done, but there are inherent difference in aging and quality that will allow a steak to hold up better to cooking abuse.

I think slowcooking e.g. (stewing) may allow poorer grades to catch-up, but the prime aged should be inherently more tender..

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk

Thought I'd give a couple of reviews from our trip:

Lotus of Siam
I finally got a chance to get out there for a meal (tourists gonna tourist) and was not disappointed in the least. Got on the standby list on Friday night from the hotel and by the time we got dressed and showed up, we were seated within 5 minutes. Easy game.

Led with Nam Kao Tod based on nothing more than a random shot at the menu. Waiter said it was pretty popular when we asked, FWIW. The dish was fantastic, if not a little on the small side. Would definitely order a second appetizer for a hungry pair of diners. I'm very big on texture of my food, so the slight crunch going on with the rice and peanuts was much appreciated. The pork added some savory backbone flavor without being too rich which really let the cilantro do it's thing. Rating: 9/10

For a main dish, I got the crispy duck with basil sauce. I asked for a 7 of 10 spiciness. This wound up being just what I wanted - it was spicy enough to push me right to the edge of discomfort without going over. I'm a big sucker for duck - I don't live somewhere I can easily find duck on a menu, so I tend to snap it up when I find it. This dish did not disappoint. The duck had a big, rich, slightly oily flavor that was kept in check by just a little bit of gamey taste. The heat of the spices really cut through the richness as the dish continued. Again with the texture - the crisp fried bits made for a great balance to the tenderness of the duck. The basil sauce was also very good and tasted extremely fresh. The jasmine rice was perfect. Rating: 10/10

Finished off the meal with the fried bananas. Kind of reminded me of Brazilian plantains, but in a spring roll wrapping with light, fresh honey. They were good, but I wish I'd eaten less of them as it put me over the line for feeling too full. Rating: 8/10

Overally, I found Lotus of Siam to more than live up to the near mythical reputation it had been built up to in my mind. Given the choice of Lotus or Kabuto (apples to oranges, I know, but in the same "off strip" effort category for my common tourist status), I think I'd pick Lotus. And I say that as someone for whom Kabuto broke my sushi scale.

Carnevino
"Do you happen to have the Riserva?"
"Yes, we do! It's been aging 9 months and is ready to go."

This question and answer is really the only reason I chose to go to Carnevino. Hearing that yes made me so excited, but we'll get to that in a minute.

First up, drinks at the bar. Had a Negroni and thought it was very good. Could maybe have used a little more citrus flavor, but it hit the spot. I don't like my cocktails too sweet, so this was about my limit. Perfect pre-dinner drink. Rating: 9/10

Little bit of runbad by being seated at the very first table into the restaurant - it's practically in the bar area and there is a ton of traffic past the table as patrons and staff are constantly walking by both sides of the table for the entire meal. Not really a lot could be done about it on a busy Saturday night, but there ya go. Another ambiance thing which detracted from the meal was the music. Got a steady diet of Blink 182, Smashmouth and I think I even heard Avril Lavigne. Not exactly what I'm looking for at a white table cloth dinner when my steak has been aged enough to be a full term human baby.

Try as they might, the bread service isn't CUT. The focaccini was a little on the dry side for my liking and lacked that certain chewy elasticity for the genre. Serving lardo with the butter was a nice touch, but just not my style. Give me a rich, soft butter with quality salt every day of the week. The small cheese rolls were delicious, but it's damn near impossible for remotely competent cheese bread of any sort to suck. They get a passing grade overall for the baker's efforts. Rating: 7/10

Next up was the grilled octopus. I've got a knee jerk reaction to trying new things, so having seen someone eating this at the bar I knew it was coming. I don't know that it made me into a lifelong tentacle fan, but I'd certainly order it again. It was nice and tender, with the grilled preparation giving a slight crunch on first bite. It wasn't slimy or seafood-y and didn't smell if such things would worry you. Even the least adventurous diner in our group gave it a go and enjoyed it (though I think he was too weirded out by it actually being octopus to go back for more). Rating: 8/10

Served alongside the octopus was the beef cheek ravioli. Now this was really great. The filling was rich, but not over powering and the pasta envelope was maybe just a hair past al dente, but was perfect for the dish. Don't really know what more to say about this dish other than it was fantastic. Rating: 9/10

And now for the show: If you weren't aware, you order the Riserva by the inch. To be honest, I zoned out during the waiter's description of the sizing (possibly because HEY NOW YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR GET YOUR GAME ON was pumping into my head) and ordered one and a half inches of the steak. I think if you're attempting to take the Riserva on by yourself (in theory, I was), one inch is plenty. One and half inches left me overpaying for my meal, but did allow me to generous with my friends without feeling like I was giving away a fleeting opportunity. Two inches would be plenty large enough for a table of four to share with a modestly sized extra entree or a generous number of sides. The steak is carved table side, but not given the Salt Bae flourish. Again, I wasn't paying attention as he was describing what was going on here, but the steak is served with the bone and there are three distinct cuts of the meet (Rib eye, cap and tenderloin? I'm guessing here...). I had ordered mine to the chef's liking and I'm guessing it was just a little on the rare side of medium-rare.

The first bite was very interesting if only because I don't know what my expectations should have been. The Riserva is unlike other "high end" steaks in that things like Wagyu blow you away with ultra rich melt in your mouth flavor. With Wagyu, you know instantly that what you are eating is of unparalleled quality. The Riserva doesn't WOW you with it's peerless quality. I guess these are my typical expectations when I fork over for an expensive steak meal, but my first bite didn't do that. Because of that, my initial impression left me a little underwhelmed. I was on my heels a little bit. As you continue to eat and try to understand the steak (because there is A LOT more going on with your palette than usual), the uniqueness of the Riserva will unfold. The dry aging process intensifies the beef flavor to the point that it's almost foreign. It takes you a few minutes to figure it out. I would highly recommend going slow and savoring the early bites, because once you adjust to what you're eating, your appreciation of it will take off. Like I said, there is a super intense beef flavor that will sit on your senses for a few moments and slowly give way to the "funk" or bleu cheese feeling you read about. It's not quick or sudden, but similar to how the spice builds in Thai food, the very interesting musty (I'm saying this as a positive - I don't know how else to describe it) flavor begins to take hold. It really is fantastic. While it is good and appreciably well crafted from the get go, I'd say it took me 3-4 bites before I started to really see the value in the extreme aging process. The flavor is intense without being rich. The careful diner can spend a long time on this steak and never be lacking for flavors to be explored. Rating: 10/10

We also got the wild mushrooms and mashed potatoes. I didn't even bother with the potatoes, but did enjoy the mushrooms. If you like earthy flavors, you will like the mushrooms. They didn't seem like they had been tampered with much - just good quality mushrooms sautéed and presented with a little parsley. Rating 8/10

We were drinking a 2013 Foley Johnson Cab with all of this. Good solid steakhouse wine IMO.

No one went for dessert. We were stuffed.

Overall, I really enjoyed my Riserva experience at CarneVino. I don't get to Vegas much anymore, so I'm not sure if I'll ever take another shot at it, but I am very thankful for the visit. It was truly unique among my steakhouse experiences.



(I don't know if my buddy was using a fisheye lens or what, but you definitely don't want to catch that right.)

Really great review, thanks.

Nice write-up hfrog!

I can't hear All Star anymore without thinking of the guy on youtube doing All Star covers to everything.

Shot in the dark, aficionados, but I have a two nighter in London in about a month and I'm solo. Any recs for a good bar seating fine dining situation anywhere in the area? Steakhouse would be fine as well. I love sitting at the bar solo at both CUT and L'Atelier for reference.

Bar seating is less common over here, but iirc Hawksmoor does it, and they set the standard for steak in London. It's not a patch on any steak I've had in a Vegas steakhouse, but still decent and a great atmosphere. Idk what an American would make of it.

Alternatively, Dishoom is a modern (and very good) Indian chain that also has bar seating from what I remember. Not really fine dining but a notch or so below. The King's Cross branch is the best as they do a special lamb curry with brain that's just absurdly good.

Re: carnevino
From another post in this thread: